AN OFF-SEASON UPDATE : Raiders Welcome Back Sumner, Elevate Hilger

The off-season is on for the Raiders, who have a new defensive coordinator, who is their old defensive coordinator, and, apparently, a new No. 1 quarterback, who is their old No. 3 quarterback.

The coordinator is Charlie Sumner, who held the post as late as the ’84 Super Bowl victory before becoming coach of the USFL’s Oakland Invaders. He reportedly turned down an offer to run the San Diego Charger defense last season, hoping for a head-coaching job in the National Football League. When nothing good happened, he headed back to the Raiders, who made room for him by dropping his replacement, Bob Zeman.

The change is likely to be welcomed by Raider defensive players, who missed Sumner and bristled at Zeman’s slowness at sending defenses in. In a game at San Diego two seasons ago, Zeman sent in a late signal that left a wide receiver uncovered. Dan Fouts raised up and lobbed the football over for a touchdown. The Raiders subsequently lost in overtime.

The new No. 1 quarterback? Owner Al Davis suggested during a Super Bowl clinic that the new depth chart was Rusty Hilger-Jim Plunkett.

Coach Tom Flores, asked about it the other day, didn’t argue with that alignment.

“(Hilger) certainly will have every opportunity this year to show what he has,” Flores said. “Right now, I’m not sure which direction we’re going in as far as Jim is concerned. He is 39 years old. I know that he would like to play one more year.

“And Marc (Wilson) is somewhere in between.”

That does not sound like a good place to be, behind a youngster who’s getting “every opportunity” and maybe behind a veteran who might not even be asked back.

There are rumors of Davis declaring that Wilson will never play another down for the team, spurring speculation that Wilson and his $1-million guaranteed salary might even be waived. But Flores has kept Wilson on board before.

Here’s a look at the rest of the team:

--Backfield. Despite rumors, Marcus Allen seems set for the duration. His rumored trade for the right to draft Vinny Testaverde, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at the University of Miami, might have been a trial balloon or wishful thinking. Whichever, it all but disappeared when the Indianapolis Colts and Robert Irsay got hot just in time to pass the pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Hugh Culverhouse.

Allen pulled out of the Pro Bowl to keep from having to put his still-sore ankle on artificial turf for another week, and the Raiders have since had it examined again. But Flores said nothing more serious than a sprain could be found.

--Offensive line. There has been speculation that the Raiders could move Don Mosebar back to tackle and make changes at all five spots. They made two late last season, with Shelby Jordan replacing Henry Lawrence at right tackle and Chris Riehm moving in for Charley Hannah at left tackle.

“Let’s put it this way: I don’t know if anything is ironclad,” Flores said. “ . . . Our offensive line did not play well. I don’t think there was any mystery about that.”

--Receivers. They’re expecting Mervyn Fernandez, a former most valuable player in the Canadian Football League who will soon become a free agent. “We can’t talk to him until March 1, but we’re anticipating his arrival,” Flores said.

--Defensive line and linebackers. Even with Howie Long hurting, the Raiders were No. 1 in sacks and solid against the run until the Colt fiasco in the final game. Flores said that Jerry Robinson struggled with the move to strong-side outside linebacker but showed big-play potential, too. No changes expected.

--Secondary. Almost sure to stay the same, though it took a late-season pounding. “That was mainly because we lost Lester (Hayes) and Mike (Haynes) played hurt,” Flores said.

Haynes and Hayes will be 34 and 32, respectively, when camp opens, but neither has a challenger at present. The Raiders hope that Brad Cochran, who missed his rookie season with back trouble, will be ready to challenge Sam Seale, the No. 3 cornerback. Flores said that Stacey Toran, who replaced Mike Davis at strong safety, was “very steady.”

--The offense. Is it outmoded or too predictable or too vulnerable to today’s blitzing defenses? Perhaps, but the Giants just won the Super Bowl with a similar scheme.

“Their running game is simpler than ours,” Flores said. “Bill Parcells was kidding me at the (scouting) combine workouts in Indianapolis. He says: ‘Yeah, we (Giants) really have a complex offense. We run about three plays.’ ”

--The staff. The Raiders have to replace Steve Ortmayer, who left last week to become the Chargers’ general manager. With the Raiders, Ortmayer was a football rarity: He coached the special teams but was also in charge of “football operations,” which included signing players and working on trades.

Pro Football Weekly said that Davis is telling confidantes that Mike Reinfeldt, the former safety now working in Davis’ front office, would make a good general manager. On the Raiders, however, that means only that he makes the telephone calls. Davis makes the deals.